A Model Children’s Book: The Last Troll by
Steinar Berg
and Brian Pilkington
The Last Troll by Steinar Berg and Brian Pilkington tells the story of
Bergsteinn, a farmer’s son, and the ogress Drífa who, against all odds,
fall in love. The language in this book is beautiful, full of metaphors
and turns of phrase, creating a flowing and touching narrative. The
Icelandic title, Tryggdatröll means literally “Faithful Troll” but is
also an expression used to describe someone who is exceptionally
faithful.
The book plays on folk stories of trolls and elves, and is written in a
folk-story style, intertwined with history and geography. Berg uses both
well-known and lesser known places in the western Icelandic region
Borgarfjördur as settings and twists for his story. Photographs of these
places by Jóhann Páll Valdimarsson with informative captions are found
on almost every page.
The photographs harmonize beautifully with the illustrations by Brian
Pilkington (who seems to have a monopoly on drawing Icelandic trolls)
through which the characters of the book spring to life and the readers
disappear into the adventure-like environment described in the book. The
Last Troll is likely to encourage its readers to travel to Borgarfjördur
and learn more about the region.
The moral of the story is the best part: Don’t be afraid of or write off
those who look different, be open-minded towards other traditions and
religions while valuing your family and friends, respect and care about
nature, don’t let your ancestors’ conflicts with others ruin your chance
of making peace with their descendents.
Despite this being a fairytale it makes very important references to
modern Icelandic society trying to cope with immigration issues, and to
world politics even.
Finally, the book urges: don’t let grief, as unbearable as it may seem,
overshadow the positive things in life and spoil your relationships with
the people around you—just like Pollyanna would advise!
Children’s literature is sometimes considered second-class literature,
of less importance than books for adults. But children’s books are
probably the most important books ever written because while
entertaining the world’s youth, they open up a new world to them as they
learn how to read, introduce them to the magic of words and trigger
their imagination. Good children’s books are educational without being
boring.
Some have feared for the end of children’s literature with the constant
influx of new television programs and films, not to mention computer
games, but I believe the book will always survive, and if cleverly
designed, these different forms of media go hand in hand.
But the classic book is still the best. The world has seen some great
authors of children’s literature like Astrid Lindgren, Thorbjoern Egner,
Enid Blyton (I sometimes stayed up all night reading her Adventure
series), Lucy M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables is still one of my
absolute favorites) and Eleanor H. Porter (Pollyanna must the best role
model a child could have: always see the positive aspects of things) and
now Steinar Berg has joined their ranks with The Last Troll.
Berg, who is a well-known music producer in Iceland, is also involved in
tourism in the Borgarfjördur region in west Iceland where he operates a
restaurant and camping site at Fossatún by Grímsá river. The surrounding
environment and the troll-like formation in Tröllafossar waterfall in
the river inspired the fairytale brought to us by Berg in The Last
Troll. In the story, Bergsteinn actually lives at Fossatún farm.
There is really nothing negative to say about The Last Troll. A new and
wonderful Icelandic folk story has emerged, a model children’s book,
both for children and adults.
